It’s no good. I can’t contain myself. I’ve just watched, on BBC Newsnight, a fellow from the Sudanese embassy defending the actions of the Sudanese authorities in arresting a British teacher working in the Sudan for insulting the Prophet by allowing her class of primary school children to name a teddy bear Mohammed

He was confronted by a moderate British muslim. This person accepted that the teacher could have made herself more aware of Sudanese (Sharia) law and of local religious sensitivities. But he suggested that it was fairly obvious that no offence was intended and that the authorities response was too heavy-handed. He said that this kind of action brought Sharia law into disrespect.

The man from the embassy then made the amazing statement that it was nothing to do with Sharia law. This Sudanese law was made to protect all religions including Christianity.

It’s a pity that nobody asked this embassy fellow if that meant that if the teddy bear had been named Jesus the teacher would still have been arrested.

The fellow from the embassy was quite inscrutable. I couldn’t make out if he felt he was defending the indefensible or if he really believed what he was saying.

I would like to say much more about this topic and but I fear I must say no more in case I give offence.

I realised recently that the supposed owner of this web site has not posted a blog since February. I seemed to remember that this blog was a rather long and nerdy (I think that’s the right word) account of how he found out how to re-set the service reminder which Nissan cars display every 12,000 miles (see what I mean about nerdy?). I wondered if this effort had totally exhausted his blogging capabilities and decided to look at it again.

To my amazement I discoverd that there were 5 comments on this blog. Three of them were congratulating him and thanking him for his efforts. It seems that this service reminder had irritated other people as well and they were grateful that someone had found a way to cancel it.

It just goes to show – one man’s nerd is another man’s genius.

At last. I’m doing something right. I drink more than 14 cups of tea a week which, researchers report, reduces my chances of having a heart attack. More specifically, if I should survive a first heart attack and continue to drink more than 14 cups of tea a week my chances of having a second heart attack are reduced by 44 percent. I have calculated that I drink about 56 cups of tea a week. How long before some more research comes up with “14 cups a week good but 56 bad”?

I have the same problem with alcohol. One set of “experts” tell me that a few glasses of red wine a day will protect me from heart attacks and strokes. Another group tells me that drinking one glass of red wine a day dooms me inevitably to cancer. Actually I’ve had it anyway because I sometimes eat bacon, ham and sausages (not usually all at the same time) – a certain way to get cancer.

Where do they get these figures for increased/decreased risk from? How do they separate out the effect on an individual of eating bacon from all the other influences on his/her health? And then come up the confident statement that “bacon is best avoided”?

Recently it was reported that one of the scientists involved in setting the alcohol limits at 21 units per week for men and 14 for women admitted that these figures were just plucked out of thin air. Some other “expert” claimed that male drinkers would have to drink 65 units a week just to make themselves as unhealthy as a someone who totally abstained from alcohol.

I am bemused by all this but pleased that, at least for the time being, I am doing myself nothing but good by consuming large quantities of tea. I also twiddle the tea bag with a spoon which, apparently, releases even more of the heart attack preventing qualities of a tea bag.

At last. I’m doing something right. I drink more than 14 cups of tea a week which, researchers report, reduces my chances of having a heart attack. More specifically, if I should survive a first heart attack and continue to drink more than 14 cups of tea a week my chances of having a second heart attack are reduced by 44 percent. I have calculated that I drink about 56 cups of tea a week. How long before some more research comes up with “14 cups a week good but 56 bad”?

I have the same problem with alcohol. One set of “experts” tell me that a few glasses of red wine a day will protect me from heart attacks and strokes. Another group tells me that drinking one glass of red wine a day dooms me inevitably to cancer. Actually I’ve had it anyway because I sometimes eat bacon, ham and sausages (not usually all at the same time) – a certain way to get cancer.

Where do they get these figures for increased/decreased risk from? How do they separate out the effect on an individual of eating bacon from all the other influences on his/her health? And then come up the confident statement that “bacon is best avoided”?

Recently it was reported that one of the scientists involved in setting the alcohol limits at 21 units per week for men and 14 for women admitted that these figures were just plucked out of thin air. Some other “expert” claimed that male drinkers would have to drink 65 units a week just to make themselves as unhealthy as a someone who totally abstained from alcohol.

I am bemused by all this but pleased that, at least for the time being, I am doing myself nothing but good by consuming large quantities of tea. I also twiddle the tea bag with a spoon which, apparently, releases even more of the heart attack preventing qualities of a tea bag.

In a recent blog Max (the dog) made certain disparaging remarks about my age and capabilities. Needless to say this blog contained his usual crop of spelling/grammatical errors (this time a confusion over the use of “there” and “their”). In case Clare reads this I am still out here and I did notice!

I have not blogged much recently as I have just discovered an American TV series called Desperate Housewives. I have been busy watching series 1 and series 2 and so have not had much time to be grumpy. Series 3 comes out on DVD next Monday and I shall be there waiting when the shop opens.

In the meantime, given the recent news headlines, I can definitely feel a serious attack of grumpiness coming on. My bacon sandwich will kill me, one glass of wine a day is too much; immigration is out of control, Sir Ian Blair will not resign and, worse, Ken Livingstone supports him; a think tank wants to “downgrade” Christmas. Also, I had to queue for 15 minutes in the Co-op this morning just to buy a newspaper ( two actually – Mail and Telegraph).

Max should be careful what he says about me as I shall be visiting at Christmas and was considering bringing him a present. I don’t know what will happen now. I’m probably too old to remember a present for him..